Wireless network system, wireless device, and network registration method of the wireless device

ABSTRACT

A method of registering a wireless device located in premises in a wireless network which is constructed in the premises. The method includes receiving a light signal, which includes network identification information of the wireless network constructed in the premises from at least one illumination device installed in the premises, and registering the wireless device in the wireless network constructed in the premises, by using the network identification information of the wireless network included in the received light signal.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/176,496, filed on Jun. 8, 2016 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,838,122, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/660,486, filed on Mar. 17, 2015 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,374,160, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/317,248, filed on Oct. 13, 2011 and now issued as U.S. Pat. No.9,008,519, which claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2011-0020625, filed on Mar. 8, 2011, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein intheir entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The present disclosure relates to a method of registering a wirelessdevice in a wireless network, and a wireless network system and thewireless device for implementing the method.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless networks are becoming increasingly important, and also have avariety of applications. Particularly, as technologies related to awireless personal area network (WPAN) and a wireless sensor network(WSN) are developing, research into construction of a home network forautomatically collecting and integratedly managing premises informationis being actively conducted. To construct such a home network, varioushome electronic appliances need to be connected to a network and managedintegratedly. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a method ofregistering various devices in a wireless network and a method ofmanaging the connected devices.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides a wireless network system forregistering a wireless device in a wireless network by using anillumination device installed in premises without performing anyadditional registration procedure, the wireless device, and a method ofregistering the wireless device in the wireless network.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided amethod of registering a wireless device located in premises in awireless network which is constructed in the premises, the methodincluding receiving a light signal, which includes networkidentification information of the wireless network constructed in thepremises, from at least one illumination device installed in thepremises; and registering the wireless device in the wireless networkconstructed in the premises, by using the network identificationinformation included in the received light signal.

The method may further include scanning at least one wireless networkwhich is usable at a current location of the wireless device. Theregistering of the wireless device at the wireless network may includeregistering the wireless device in a wireless network, which correspondsto the network identification information included in the received lightsignal, from among the scanned networks.

The received light signal may further include location information ofthe illumination device transmitting the light signal. If theregistering of the wireless device in the wireless network is completed,the wireless device transmits the location information included in thelight signal to the wireless network.

The receiving of the light signal may further include sending a requestfor a light signal to at least one illumination device installed in thepremises and, according to the request for a light signal, receiving thelight signal transmitted from the illumination device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda wireless device to be registered in a wireless network which isconstructed in premises, the wireless device including a light receivingunit to receive a light signal transmitted from at least oneillumination device installed in the premises; a light signalinterpretation unit to obtain network identification information of thewireless network constructed in the premises by interpreting thereceived light signal; and a wireless communication unit to register thewireless device in the wireless network constructed in the premises, byusing the network identification information obtained by the lightsignal interpretation unit.

The wireless device may further include a network scanning unit to scanat least one wireless network which is usable at a current location ofthe wireless device. The wireless communication unit may register thewireless device in the wireless network, which corresponds to thenetwork identification information obtained from the light signalinterpretation unit, from among wireless networks scanned by the networkscanning unit.

The light signal interpretation unit may obtain location information ofan illumination device which has transmitted the light signal, byinterpreting the received light signal. The wireless communication unitmay transmit location information of the illumination device to thewireless network in which the wireless device is registered.

The wireless communication unit may request a light signal to at leastone illumination device installed in the premises.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is providedan illumination device installed in premises, the illumination deviceincluding a light generation unit to generate light; and a control unitto adjust brightness of the light by controlling the generation of lightby the light generation unit. The control unit may control an ON and OFFstatus of the light by using a pattern which indicates networkidentification information of a wireless network constructed in thepremises.

ON and OFF frequencies of the light may be equal to or higher than ablinking frequency that may not be perceived by a user.

The illumination device may further include a communication unit forreceiving network identification information of the wireless networkfrom outside.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda wireless network system constructed in premises, the wireless networksystem including an illumination device installed in the premises, totransmit a light signal including network identification information ofa wireless network constructed in the premises; a gateway to receive arequest for registration from a wireless device which has received thelight signal; and a server to allow registration of the wireless deviceaccording to the request for registration.

The light signal may further include location information of theillumination device that has transmitted the light signal. The servermay receive location information of the illumination device from thewireless device which is allowed to be registered, and store thereceived location information as location information of the wirelessdevice.

The server may transmit network identification information of thewireless network, constructed in the premises, to at least oneillumination device installed in the premises.

If the wireless device requests a light signal, the illumination devicemay transmit a light signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosurewill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network system, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illumination device to transmit a lightsignal in a wireless network system, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a status of a wireless device placed in a locationwhere it is connectible to two or more networks, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates signal flow in a wireless network system, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates signal flow in a wireless network system, accordingto another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wireless device, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a registration method performed by awireless network system, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a registration method performed by awireless network system, according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be describedmore fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, functions or constructions well known to those of ordinaryskill in the art will not be described in detail if it is determinedthat they would obscure the disclosure due to unnecessary detail.

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network system, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the wireless networksystem according to the present embodiment may include a plurality ofillumination devices 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c installed in premises 100,a gateway 130, and a server 140.

The illumination devices 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c installed in thepremises 100 may transmit a light signal including information towireless devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d that are to beregistered in a wireless network. The information included in the lightsignal may be network identification information for identifying thewireless network or the network identification information and locationinformation regarding locations of the illumination devices 110 a, 110b, and 110 c. Since the light signal including the networkidentification information and the location information is transmittedto the wireless devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d by using theillumination devices 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c installed in the premises100, a previously constructed infrastructure may be utilized without anadditional unit to transmit the light signal. Furthermore, even if thelight signal is transmitted via the illumination devices 110 a, 110 b,and 110 c, the illumination devices 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c have noproblem performing general illumination device functions, which will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 2 later.

Although the gateway 130 and the server 140 that are constituentelements used to construct the wireless network are located outside thepremises 100 in FIG. 1, the gateway 130 and the server 140 may belocated in the premises 100 to construct and manage the wirelessnetwork.

The wireless devices 120 a, 120 b, and 120 c that are to be connected tothe wireless network may be installed and operate at different locationswithin the premises 100. The wireless devices 120 a, 120 b, and 120 cinstalled at different locations within the premises 100 receive lightsignals at the corresponding locations. Then, the wireless devices 120a, 120 b, and 120 c may be registered in the wireless network by usinginformation included in the received light signals, or may transmitlocation information to the wireless network.

For example, a process of newly installing a wireless device D 120 d ina living room and registering the wireless device D 120 d in thewireless network is described below. If power is applied to the wirelessdevice D 120 d, the wireless device D 120 d scans to determine whetherthere is a connectible wireless network, and receives a light signalwhich is transmitted from the illumination device 110 c located in theliving room. After receiving the light signal, the wireless device D 120d interprets the received light signal to obtain network identificationinformation included in the light signal and location information of theillumination device 110 c. The network identification information may bea personal area network (PAN) ID to identify the corresponding wirelessnetwork. The location information of the illumination device 110 c maybe information regarding a location of the corresponding illuminationdevice, such as the “living room” in the case of the illumination device110 c located in the living room. The wireless device D 120 d tries toregister in a wireless network which corresponds to the networkidentification information included in the received light signal. Uponcompletion of the registration, the wireless device D 120 d may transmitthe location information included in the received light signal, such asthe “living room”, to the connected wireless network. Specifically, ifthe device D 120 d transmits a registration request to the gateway 130of the wireless network which is determined by the networkidentification information, the gateway 130 allocates an address to thewireless device D 120 d and completes the registration of the wirelessdevice D 120 d to the wireless network. That is, without performing anadditional registration procedure, the wireless device D 120 dautomatically recognizes the wireless network in which the device D 120d is to be registered, and tries to register in the wireless network,thereby completing the registration. Furthermore, if the registration iscompleted, the wireless device D 120 d may transmit the locationinformation (“living room”) included in the received light signal to thegateway 130, the gateway 130 may transmit the location information tothe server 140, and the server 140 may store the location information aslocation information regarding the device D 120 d.

As described above, the light signal including the networkidentification information and the location information is transmittedto the wireless devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d, by using thepreviously constructed illumination devices 110 a, 110 b, and 110 c inthe premise 100. The wireless devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 dthat received the light signal are registered in the wireless network byusing the network identification information included in the receivedlight signal and transmit the location information to the wirelessnetwork. Accordingly, it is possible to register the wireless devices120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d in the wireless network by applying powerto the wireless devices 120 a, 120 b, 120 c, and 120 d without having totake an additional registration procedure. Such a wireless networksystem may facilitate the registration of devices in a wireless networkand be highly utilized by a smart grid system requiring locationinformation of each device connected to the wireless network.Furthermore, the wireless network system may employ a ZigBee method, theZigBee method being a communication protocol based on the IEEE 802standard for personal area networks, as a communication method toimplement the wireless network, considering the characteristics of ahome network which must frequently receive a small amount of data fromwireless devices. However, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and a different type of home network system or a differentwireless communication method may be applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illumination device 110 to transmit alight signal in a wireless network system, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 2, the illumination device 110to transmit the light signal in the wireless network system according tothe present embodiment may include a control unit 112 and a lightgeneration unit 114.

The control unit 112 controls generation of a light signal includingpredetermined data. The control unit 112 may be implemented as aswitched-mode power supply (SMPS) for supplying power to the lightgeneration unit 114. Specifically, the control unit 112 controls an Onor Off status of light generated by the light generation unit 114 tohave a certain frequency, thereby controlling brightness of the light,and at the same time, generating light in a pattern indicating networkidentification information of a wireless network. In this regard, thecontrol unit 112 controls On and Off frequencies of the light at highfrequencies that a user may not perceive so that the illumination device110 can perform a general illumination device function. If it is assumedthat the illumination device 110 of the present embodiment is a lightemitting diode (LED) illumination device capable of dimming control, thecontrol unit 112 controls dimming of the LED illumination device so thatthe light generation unit 114 generates light having a certain pattern.That is, the light generation unit 114 generates patterned lightincluding network identification information for identifying a wirelessnetwork and location information regarding a location of the LEDillumination device. Since the control unit 112 controls dimming at afrequency of 200 Hz or higher at which people may not perceive blinkingof the illumination, the LED illumination device transmits a lightsignal including specific information while performing a generalillumination device function. In addition, it is also possible for thecontrol unit 112 to adjust illumination to a desired brightness, whiletransmitting the light signal including specific information throughdimming control.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the illumination device 110 to transmit thelight signal in the wireless network system of the present embodimentmay further include a communication unit 111. The communication unit 111receives network identification information of the wireless networkconstructed in premises from a server of the wireless network system andoutputs the network identification information to the control unit 112,and thus, the control unit 112 may control the light generation unit 114to generate a light signal including the network identificationinformation of the wireless network constructed in the premises.

FIG. 3 illustrates a status of a wireless device placed in a locationwhere it is connectible to 2 or more wireless networks, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 3, a wirelessdevice 120 is placed in the location where the wireless device 120 isconnectible to 2 wireless networks, i.e. networks 1 and 2. Accordingly,if the wireless device 120 scans the connectible networks, both thenetworks 1 and 2 are scanned. However, if it is assumed that thewireless device 120 is to be connected to the network 2, the wirelessdevice 120 must transmit a request for registration by specifying thenetwork 2. However, if information about a network to which the wirelessdevice 120 is to be registered is not stored, a user must designate thenetwork 2 manually. According to the present embodiment, the wirelessdevice 120 may designate the network 2 from among found networks (thenetworks 1 and 2) and request registration, by receiving andinterpreting a light signal including network identification informationregarding the network 2 in which the wireless device is to beregistered. Since a network to be registered is designated by using thenetwork identification information included in the light signal, theuser does not need to designate a network manually. In addition, evenwhen the wireless device 120 is placed in a location where it isconnectible to several networks simultaneously, the wireless device 120may accurately designate a network for registration and be registered inthe designated network. Accordingly, registration in a wrong wirelessnetwork due to confusion with wireless networks constructed inneighboring houses may be prevented. This is highly efficient in aZigBee method of using a high wavelength band, in particular, of a 2.4GHz band.

FIG. 4 illustrates signal flow in a wireless network system, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 5 illustratessignal flow in a wireless network system, according to anotherembodiment of the present disclosure. An illumination device 110 may notalways transmit a light signal. For example, the illumination device 110does not generally operate during the daytime. In addition, if theillumination device 110 always transmits the light signal whileoperating, power may be consumed and efficiency of illumination maydeteriorate due to the light signal being generated even at times whenthe light signal is not necessary. To solve this problem, a method oftransmitting the light signal only according to a request for the lightsignal will now be explained. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, a lightsignal is always transmitted while the illumination device 110 isoperating. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, a light signal is transmittedonly according to a request for the light signal.

Referring to FIG. 4, the illumination device 110 always transmits thelight signal without any additional request. The device 120 thatreceived the light signal requests registration to a gateway 130. If thegateway 130 receives the request for registration, the gateway 130allocates an address to the wireless device 120. Upon completion ofregistration in a wireless network, the wireless device 120 sendslocation information included in the received light signal to a wirelessnetwork.

On the contrary, referring to FIG. 5, the illumination device 110 doesnot transmit a light signal when there is no additional request. Thewireless device 120 transmits a signal to request a light signal to thegateway 130 to obtain information for registration in a wirelessnetwork. The gateway 130 that received the signal transmits the signalfor requesting the light signal to the illumination device 110. Theillumination device 110 that received the signal for requesting thelight signal transmits the light signal. Operations performed thereafterare the same as the operations performed after the wireless device 120receives the light signal as illustrated in FIG. 4. As such, theillumination device 110 transmits the light signal only when theillumination device 110 receives the signal for requesting the lightsignal from the wireless device 120, thereby preventing an unnecessarylight signal from being transmitted. The illumination device 110 maytransmit the light signal temporarily according to the request for thelight signal, even when the illumination device 110 is not operating.Communication between the gateway 130 and the illumination device 110transmitting the request for the light signal may use any wired orwireless communication methods, and in particular, may use a power linecommunication method of sending a signal through a power line connectedto the illumination device 110.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the wireless device 120, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 6, the wirelessdevice 120 of the present embodiment may include a light receiving unit121, a light signal interpretation unit 122, a network scanning unit123, and a wireless communication unit 124. The light receiving unit 121may receive a light signal and include a light sensor. The light signalinterpretation unit 122 may interpret information included in thereceived light signal. That is, the light signal interpreting unit 122interprets the received light signal to obtain network identificationinformation or location information included in the received lightsignal. The network scanning unit 123 searches for wireless networkswhich are connectible to the wireless device 120. If there is a wirelessnetwork corresponding to the network identification information obtainedby interpreting the light signal by the light signal interpretation unit122 among the scanned wireless networks, the wireless communication unit124 may request registration in the corresponding wireless network. Inaddition, if the wireless device 120 is registered in the wirelessnetwork, the wireless communication unit 124 may send the locationinformation obtained by interpreting the light signal to thecorresponding wireless network. The wireless communication unit 124 mayalso request a wireless network system to transmit the light signal.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a registration method of a wirelessnetwork system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.Particularly, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the registration method performedby the wireless network system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. Referring to FIG. 7, in operation S710, the registrationmethod of the wireless network system may start with receiving a requestfor a light signal. The receiving of the request for the light signalmay be omitted as occasion demands, as described with reference to FIGS.4 and 5. In operation S703, when the wireless network system receivesthe request for the light signal, the wireless network system transmitsthe light signal including network identification information andlocation information to a wireless device. Then, in operation S705, thewireless network system receives a request for registration to awireless network from the wireless device which has received the lightsignal. In operation S707, the wireless network system completes theregistration of the wireless device by allocating an address to thecorresponding wireless device. In operation S709, the wireless networksystem receives location information from the wireless device of whichregistration is completed. Then, in operation S711, the wireless networksystem determines whether the location information of the wirelessdevice is stored in the wireless network system. If the locationinformation is not stored in the wireless network system, in operationS715, the wireless network system performs a location informationupdating operation that stores the received location information aslocation information regarding the wireless device. On the contrary, ifthe location information of the wireless device is already stored in thewireless network system, the wireless network system proceeds tooperation S713 to determine whether the stored location information ofthe wireless device is identical to the received location information.If the stored location information of the wireless device is identicalto the received location information, the operations end. If the storedlocation information of the wireless device is not identical to thereceived location information, the wireless network system performs thelocation information updating operation (S715) to store the receivedlocation information as new location information of the wireless device.As such, location information of the wireless device is checked andupdated each time the wireless device is registered to the wirelessnetwork, and thus exact location information may be obtained withoutadditionally correcting location information even when the wirelessdevice is moved and newly installed in premises.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a registration method of a wirelessnetwork system, according to another embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In particular, FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the registrationmethod performed by a device according to another embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Referring to FIG. 8, in operation S801, theregistration method of the wireless network system may start withapplying power to the wireless device. When power is applied to thewireless device, the wireless device automatically scans connectiblewireless networks in operation S803. In order to determine a wirelessnetwork to be registered from among the wireless networks scanned inoperation S803, network identification information regarding thewireless network to be registered is necessary. Accordingly, inoperation S805, the wireless device may send a signal for requesting alight signal including the network identification information, in orderto obtain the network identification information. The operation ofsending the signal for requesting the light signal may be omitted asoccasion demands, as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. When thelight signal is transmitted in response to the signal for requesting thelight signal, the wireless device receives the transmitted light signaland interprets information included in the transmitted light signal, inoperation S807. The wireless device may obtain the networkidentification information and location information, as a result ofinterpreting the transmitted light signal. Then, the wireless devicedetermines whether there is a wireless network identical to the networkidentification information obtained by interpreting the light signal,from among the connectible wireless networks scanned in operation S803.If there is a wireless network identical to the network identificationinformation, the wireless device requests registration to thecorresponding wireless network in operation S809. In operation S811, theregistration of the wireless device to the corresponding wirelessnetwork is completed by allocating an address to the wireless devicefrom the wireless network system of which registration is requested. Inoperation S813, upon completion of the registration, the wireless devicemay send the location information obtained by interpreting the receivedlight signal to the connected wireless network.

As described above, each device receives a light signal includingnetwork identification information and automatically requests connectionto a wireless network, and thus the devices can be easily registered inthe wireless network by applying power to each device without anadditional registration procedure. Furthermore, location information ofthe devices can be automatically transmitted to the wireless network. Iflocations of the devices are changed, the changed location informationcan be transmitted to the wireless network. Accordingly, the devicesconnected to the wireless network can be easily and efficiently managed.

While this disclosure has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The exemplaryembodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the invention is definednot by the detailed description of the invention but by the appendedclaims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as beingincluded in the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of registering a wireless device locatedin premises in a wireless network which is constructed in the premises,the method comprising: receiving a light signal including networkidentification information of the wireless network constructed in thepremises from at least one illumination device installed in thepremises; and registering the wireless device in the wireless networkconstructed in the premises, by using the network identificationinformation included in the received light signal.